Karine Jean-Pierre White House Press Briefing on 7/09/24

Hi, good afternoon everyone. Really sorry for the delay; I just got out of the Oval Office with the President who wanted me to relay a few new messages to you all on Hurricane Beryl. This is important to him and he knows it’s important to the people of Texas, so he wanted to make sure that before I came out here I had all of this information. So the President spoke with Houston Mayor Whitmire and Harris County Judge Lena Hidalgo about the impacts of Hurricane Beryl and they both asked for help from the federal government. Because of the Governor of Texas is currently out of the country, the President then called the Lieutenant Governor of Texas to ensure that Texans are getting the resources they need and deserve following this devastating storm. On the call, the President raised the need for a major disaster declaration and immediately approved it while on the call when the Lieutenant Governor requested it.

(01:08)
With this major disaster declaration in place, we will be able to provide lifesaving and life sustaining activities. The President and his team have been working around the clock for the past two days to ensure Texas has the resources and tools needed to respond to Beryl and keep Americans safe. Officials from the US Coast Guard and FEMA have been on the ground and Senior White House Officials have been in constant contact with their counterparts while the storm has passed. Our greatest concern right now is power outages and extreme heat, so we want to encourage residents to remain vigilant as temperatures rise, especially older adults and those with underlying health conditions. Fortunately, 800,000 have had power restored overnight and we expect another 1 million to have their power restored today. The federal government has also offered generators to help reduce the impact of the power outages. The President continues to take decisive action to help the people of Texas recover and he looks forward to working with the state to get more critical resources to the people that need them.

(02:21)
I also want to share one additional scheduling item with all of you as well at the top. In addition to many in NATO meetings, we announced yesterday on Thursday afternoon, President Biden will meet with President Zelensky of Ukraine to discuss our unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself from Russian aggression. That meeting will be at 1:30 PM at the Convention Center, which as you all know is where the NATO sessions are being held and it will take place just before the NATO Ukraine Council meeting. This will be the third meeting between both residents in recent weeks following their sit down in France and also a sit down at the G7 in Italy, and it will further demonstrate the strength of the partnership between our countries.

(03:11)
And finally, just a personal note here, I want to say a few words about Sam Michel here who served as Acting Deputy Press Secretary for the good part of this year. We are sad that today is indeed his last day, but we are so grateful for his service and he has been an incredible colleague. We were lucky to have him on our team, on our press team. His sharpness, his ability to stay calm under pressure and his strategic thinking has been a real asset to us all. Sam, you will be greatly missed. Thank you so much for being on the team and stepping in when we really needed you. Okay. All right. Sung-Mei.

Thank you. I just want to get a clarification on the letter that was sent last night.

Sure, absolutely.

From Dr. O’Connor, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, but it didn’t seem to explicitly describe the nature of Dr. Cannard’s meeting with Dr. O’Connor. So can you say whether that one meeting was related to care for the President himself?

I can say that it was not. It was not.

Okay. Great. And can I just ask why that information that was released last night just wasn’t said at the briefing yesterday?

Well, no, actually a lot of what is in the letter was said at the briefing. To be very, very clear. I said many of the things that were laid out in the letter was actually repeated right here behind this lectern at this podium, yesterday-

It was the letter said that-

Hold on. I said, “Many of the things,” “Many of the things.” And we got clarification obviously from Dr. O’Connor, but it was in line with what I said when I said, “Only three,” right? I said only three visits that this particular doctor had. I said, “A neurologist.” What I was not able to confirm is the name. And the reason why is because we do not share private information. That is something that we respect and we wanted to make sure that we protected our consultants here that work with the White House Medical Unit, their security as well. And so that is the one thing that I was not able to confirm. Obviously, Dr. O’Connor’s letter confirms that, but we had to get permission from Dr. Cannard and also the President in order to put that information. And it is not normal and that also states that in Dr. O’Connor. But many of the things that I said right here at this podium, is in the letter.

And can I just also ask a little, this is the second time in less than a week where the briefing had prompted a need for later clarification on questions about the President’s health. And I’m just wondering if you could speak to-

So I disagree. I disagree, Sung-Mei, it’s not. Yesterday, a lot of the things that I said right here in this briefing, I know you were not in the Briefing Room, it’s in the letter. It was in the letter. It was being incorrectly assumed and insinuated that the President had seen Dr. Cannard more than three times. I said that it was only three times that the President had seen a neurologist. I didn’t confirm the name, but I did say it was only three times it was being incorrectly assumed and insinuated that the President was being treated for Parkinson’s. I said right here that the President was not being treated for Parkinson’s. I actually went a step further and said he wasn’t taking medication for Parkinson’s. I said that right here.

(06:28)
It was also being assumed and insinuated that Dr. Cannard was someone who only worked on Parkinson’s when in fact he’s a general neurologist. That was something that Dr. O’Connor was actually able to confirm that he was a general neurologist, in fact a general neurologist. And we also, we just wanted to set the record straight. And so it is important. We believe it was important to all of you. I actually even said here at the podium, “If there was more information that we could provide, we would do that.” We would do that. And we did. But many of the things that I said right here is in the letter, is in the letter. Go ahead.

Does the President feel like he’s beat back this effort to force him to step aside?

Look, you heard the President yesterday when he called into Morning Joe did about 18 minutes of Q&A yesterday morning. He spoke very, I think forcefully, passionately about where he stands about how he sees things moving forward. And we also have said many times we respect, we respect members of Congress, we respect their view, but I also want to say there’s also a long list of congressional members who have been very clear and in support of this President, whether it’s the CBC who gave a full support, the Congressional Black Caucus. For folks who are watching and they’re not sure what CBC is, they were very much supportive. They said, this is Representative Joyce Beatty, to be clear, “We think that the call went extremely well. The President was very responsive.” Representative Troy Carter who’s also a member of the CBC, he was elated to hear directly from the President and that he is all in and we are all in with him. You heard from, you got a Congressional Hispanic Caucus, they put out a statement in full support of this President and there are others.

(08:27)
And so look, he is going to focus on continuing to work on behalf of the American people, continuing to build on an unprecedented record that he’s been able to get done with many of these congressional members that he’s proud to have worked with. But that’s his focus right now. That’s his focus.

[inaudible 00:08:45] Still talking to more people? More-

He’s going to continue to engage. As you saw him in Pennsylvania when he was in the Commonwealth on the road, he had the two of the senators, two of the congressional members with him, the House members with him. He’s going to be traveling later in the week. He’s going to be engaging. I mentioned yesterday, his robust schedule for the next two weeks when he’s in state, he certainly would continue to engage. Don’t have a list of additional calls to read out. But he did CBC last night, Congressional Black Caucus, and he’s going to continue and engage as he has been, go ahead, Mary.

To follow on that, the President has made clear, he’s done talking about the debate. It is time to move on, but some of his allies have made clear, they’re very much still in this wait and see mode. I mean, Senator Patty Murray said he must do more to demonstrate he can campaign strong enough to beat Trump. Senator Durbin saying he’s concerned whether this is just a one-off or a larger issue. So I guess how worried is the President that despite his best efforts, he’s not going to be able to close the book on these concerns.

And Mary, I appreciate the question, but as you know, there are hundreds of members in Congress, hundreds, and I laid out a list of folks who have supported him. We’ve heard from Senator Coons, we’ve heard from Senator Fetterman. There’s support there as well for him. And so just want to make sure that we put that out there as well.

[inaudible 00:10:06] Is the party united behind-

Absolutely. Absolutely. And look, Representative Gregory Meeks said coming out of the Congressional Democrats meeting said that they’re united. And you just saw the Dem Caucus leadership take questions from some of your colleagues over at the Capitol. So that is important as well to note. But look, he had a bad night. We’ve talked about it. He understands people’s concerns. We have been out there as we have been in previous months, but out there obviously in the past 10 days, more than 10 days now since the debate. And you see from his engagement with everyday people on the ground, you see him with congressional members who are showing their support speaking on behalf of this President while we’re on the ground in that respective state or commonwealth, being where we were in Pennsylvania on Sunday. And so we’re just going to continue that.

(11:00)
But look, what we can say, what I can say is, “Look, we respect people’s opinion.” These are, you just mentioned two senators that we were very proud working with over the past three and a half years to get historic legislation done. And that’s what we want to focus on. You’re right. We do want to turn the page, you heard me say this last week; we want to get to the side of this. We want to continue doing the work and that’s what the President’s going to do.

And just to be clear, does he have plans to talk with leadership again soon?

I don’t have any calls. We don’t have calls to read out or to preview. He is going to continue to engage. I just don’t have anything right now to share at this moment. He talked to CBC, again, the Congressional Black Caucus members yesterday. They had a very, very good call. And so he’s going to continue to engage. Okay.

Thanks, Karine, the White House has obviously fielded a lot of questions in recent about the President’s health, whether the White House has been forthcoming or not about that issue. And I just wondered, have the last 12 days made you reconsider any specific statements that you might’ve made in recent months on that issue?

Look, I appreciate the question. I really do, and the opportunity. I think there has been moments here when I have said, and especially in the gaggle I think, and actually yesterday, if I have misled in something that I’ve said or haven’t had the full information, I actually own up to that. And I actually say, “I will do my best to get you the information.” Hence the letter. Hence the letter for Dr. O’Connor.

(12:35)
And so I’ve always said, I’ve always been committed to doing the best I can to give you the information that we have. That is a commitment from the team. It has been an unprecedented time. I think you guys could admit that, right? It is an unprecedented time. And so we are meeting the moment, a new moment that has never really existed before. And so we want to make sure that we get you all the information that we have and when we don’t have it, we do try our best to provide that information. And so that is something that I’m going to continue to do. And I’ve always said it is an honor and a privilege to be standing in front of you every day, exercising in the freedom of the press. This is a briefing that is watched around the world because we lead in democracy, right? We lead in the freedom of the press and what that looks like, honor and privilege. And I will continue to do my best to do just that.

And we certainly understand you speak on behalf of the President and you defend him, his actions, his positions, his policy positions included. Could I just ask you about one example, just going back that comes to mind, September-

We are talking about the last 12 days.

I’m talking about recent, recent months.

No, well you just said, “Recently” we’ve been going back and forth. And so in the last 12 days or so, that’s how I believe that’s how you asked me that question.

Yeah, I was talking generally, but if I could just ask you about one example.

I mean, look, if you’re going to ask me about something from months ago, it probably would be fair for me to… I probably won’t be able to answer that right away, whatever it is that you’re going to say to me.

You can come back to us.

Yeah, I’m happy to do that. But it’s also to say, “Hey, from September of whenever year,” right? That is something that I probably should give a little space to kind of see exactly what you’re speaking of.

Okay. And that’s fine if that ends up being your response, sure. [inaudible 00:14:30]

No, I just want to make sure that we kind of give some context here.

Yeah, and you’ll remember this was an event where the President called out Congresswoman Jackie Walorski, looked for her in the room even though she had recently died. You told multiple reporters at the time, and this was asked in multiple different ways.

She was top of mind.

Right. It was because she was top of mind for the President. I mean on that example, would you offer a different explanation?

I would not because honestly, I spoke

… to the president right before coming out that day, and that is what the president told me. It’s not something that came from me. That is something that came from the president.

So he was saying even as he was looking for her in the moment, it wasn’t a mistake.

She was top of mind.

Okay.

As you just said in your question, I speak for the president, I speak on behalf of him. That was coming from him, and I was delivering directly from the president what he was thinking at the time.

Great. A very different kind of example and this is more recent.

Oh, sure, sure.

When the president was in Italy for the G7, and you remember he skipped one of the leaders dinner, which was a major event for the summit, and I remember you were asked about it by reporters and you said we shouldn’t read too much into the fact that he’s skipping one dinner. I mean, would the explanation actually have been that he was tired and that he needed to skip something that was happening so [inaudible 00:15:56]-

And my answer stays the same. I wouldn’t read too much into it. It’s not the first time that he has. He has a really busy schedule, and there’s a lot going on. As you know, when the president is abroad, he has continued to do domestic stuff as well as meeting with global leaders. And so I truly would not read too much into it, and I will leave it there.

Okay. I have a very final question on the annual-

Sure, sure.

… letter from Dr. O’Connor. He said that, “The president continues to be fit for duty and fully executes all of his responsibilities without any exemptions or accommodations.” Just because it’s been a couple of months, do you know if that statement is still accurate?

It’s still accurate.

So no exemptions, no accommodations?

No exemptions, no accommodations. Exactly.

Thank you.

Thank you. Go ahead.

Karine, there was in a announcement from the Department of Justice today about a crackdown effort to interrupt a Russian state-sponsored bot operation, AI-fueled operation to denigrate politicians in the United States and elsewhere.

(17:08)
Do you have any concerns right now that this is the leading edge of any part of a Russian effort to interfere in the election? Has the president been briefed on this? And have you seen any evidence that the Russians or other foreign powers have tried to seize on the debate performance to repeat some of the president’s most embarrassing moments?

So that’s a very good question. I would have to talk to our team about those particular questions that you just asked. There were multiple questions in your statement there. I would leave it to the Department of Justice as what they announced. Obviously that’s for them to speak to.

(17:47)
Look, AI has always been a concern. That’s why the president made some announcements recently, to take executive action on how we can deal with AI. We want to see more action, more fulsome action legislatively from congress. It is a cutting edge technology that we need to get our hands on and get a better understanding of what it could potentially do. And so that is something that the president certainly is looking to make sure that we deal with this in a full whole-of-government way. On those particular questions, I would have to check in with our team here and obviously whoever’s related to the Department of Justice in that statement, I would refer you to them. Go ahead.

[inaudible 00:18:37] Karine.

You said just a minute ago that the president wants to turn the page on the last couple of weeks and get to the other side of this where the White House wants to. Yeah. Has President Biden seen enough support over the last 36 hours from fellow Democrats in congress to now start turning the page and look ahead? I mean, what’s his reaction been to what he’s seen since congress has gotten back?

I mean, it’s very similar to how I answered the question to one of your colleagues. He’s very much focused on what’s ahead. He’s very much focused. He has a fulsome robust schedule in the next two weeks that we laid out for all of you. He wants to focus on that, the messages that he wants to come out when he goes to Texas next week, when he goes to Vegas next week. He’s going to be on the road on Friday as well.

(19:26)
I also want to say, look, he is proud of the Congressional Black Caucus who said he has their support. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus did the same and other, and other members of congress obviously. And so look, he wants to move forward, as your colleague said, definitely unite the party, continuing to unite the party. We heard from Representative Meeks who said that the congressional Democrats came out of the meeting today united. I think that’s important to note.

(19:59)
But the President’s going to move forward. He’s going to move forward and he’s going to continue to go out there, engage, engage with the American public like you saw him do in Pennsylvania, and he’s going to stay focused on that.

Does he feel like he’s weathered this storm, so to speak?

Look, I think that he is more determined than ever to continue to get the job done, to continue to build an economy that works for all, to continue to make sure that we have a middle class that is strong, that we don’t have a trickle-down economy. A economy that’s built from the bottom up, middle out, that’s what he wants to continue to do.

(20:38)
I think this week with the NATO summit, the 75th year of NATO, let’s not forget NATO has helped to protect Americans and also protect the world and what it had been able to do for the past 75 years, you’re going to see the president engaging with 32 leaders of this alliance. I think that’s really important. That’s, again, on behalf of the American people, so he wants to do that.

(21:02)
He has a lot on his mind, and as it deals with making sure we deliver for the American people, that’s what he’s going to focus on.

(21:10)
Okay. Go ahead, Peter. I know we have our chitchat yesterday.

Yes. Thank you, Karine.

It’s okay.

Does President Biden commit to serving a full second term if reelected?

Yes.

Thank you. We know the president says that his health is fine, but it’s just his brain and that he’s sharpest before eight-

He was joking, by the way. I just want to make sure that that’s out there, and people-

What’s the joke?

… He was making a lighthearted joke as he was speaking off-

That he is off the frame.

… He’s speaking off the cuff and he was making a joke. You know the president, he likes to joke a lot. He’s the same guy who says, “I know I look 40.” So he likes to make jokes.

That’s a joke?

It is a joke. I think people laugh when he says it.

Well, he also said-

Tell them it’s a joke.

… he’s sharpest before 8:00 PM. So say that the Pentagon at some point picks up an incoming nuke. It’s 11:00 PM, who do you call, the first lady?

He has a team that lets him know of any news that is pertinent and important to the American people. He has someone or that is decided obviously with his National Security Council on who gets to tell him that news.

So Kevin McCarthy just said that when he was the speaker, many times when we had meetings in the Oval Office, Jill was there as well. When the first lady’s in these meetings, is she making decisions, or is she just advising the president?

No, the president is the President of the United States. He makes decisions.

Okay, another family member. President Biden has told me before he and his son don’t have any business dealings together. So what is Hunter Biden doing in White House meetings?

Are you talking about the meeting where they came together from Camp David and the two of them walked to the president’s meeting and he was there?

There’s a report that aides were struck by his presence during their discussions.

Look, I’m certainly not going to get into private conversations that occur. What I can say is, and I spoke to this before, is that when they came back from Camp David, the president spent a couple of days at Camp David with his family. He is very close to his family, as you know. It was the week of 4th of July, which is why his family members were here last week. They walked together and they walked together into the meeting.

Can you say if Hunter Biden has access to classified information?

No.

And are you guys just not, since February, testing President Biden for Parkinson’s or for dementia? Because if he gets a bad result, it’s all over that day.

Again, as I’ve said many times before, the president has had a fulsome, comprehensive, what we said, what we shared with you was comprehensive, but he’s had a full physical. We’ve shown the results of those physicals this past three years. We showed it just four months ago, and it is in line with what we have done similar to President Obama, similar to George W. Bush. We are committed to continue to be transparent. We are committed to continue to show the results of those physicals.

(24:28)
And, look, it’s the president’s medical team that makes a decision. With all due respect, you’re not a doctor. I’m not a doctor. It is the president’s medical unit that makes a decision on what the President needs.

Not a doctor, just play one on TV, but I know that-

That’s scary.

… That is scary. But I know that, especially as adults get into their 80s, health conditions can pop up more than just once a year when he’s getting his physical.

(24:55)
I think if my wife saw me on TV misspeaking or saying the wrong thing or seeing a change in my appearance, she would probably say, “Let’s go to a doctor just to make sure that you are okay. You have a family, you have an important job.” Why doesn’t anybody in the President’s family urge him just to go to get checked out to say the coast is clear?

Okay. So just to step back just a little bit because I think you weren’t in a briefing room last week. I don’t want to go backwards, but just to share a little bit about that night, the president said it was a bad night. He talked about it. He had a cold. He talked about his schedule being abroad, and so we’ve spoke about what that night was like for him, and we understand what the American people saw, what you all saw. We’ve spoken to that.

(25:46)
And I also would say, and I think you know this, Peter, you’ve covered a couple of administrations at this point, that the president, every president has a White House Medical Unit that is with him 24/7, that is available to him 24/7. That is unlike any other American. That is not the norm. That is uncommon. Just down on the other side of the colonnade is where the medical unit is, and I did share that the president checks in while he’s exercising with his doctor a couple times a week.

(26:20)
And so he has that. He has something that most, majority of Americans, all Americans I would probably argue, don’t have, which is a full medical unit that is with him at all times, and he gets a full, full, full physical, annual physical that we share with all of you. And that is very different, very different than an everyday American who sometimes they’re lucky if they can go get a physical. They have to get into a car, they have to take public transportation. The president has, again, a medical unit that’s with him here at the White House and travels with him.

So I guess the question is just you’re saying this is not a situation where you would rather just not know if there is an issue with the president-

What I will tell you is-

… because if he does get a bad result, it is all over. He has to leave office right away, can’t run for reelection.

First of all, it’s a hypothetical, that you’re giving me a hypothetical. But I will also say, just to clear this up, the White House Medical Unit, his doctor, they don’t believe that he needs anything more than what we have been able to provide, a full, full, detailed, very comprehensive physical that he had four months ago. It is their decision to make. It’s not yours. It’s not mine. It’s the White House Medical Unit. Go ahead.

Hi, Karine. You mentioned that the Democratic Party was united. Perhaps the leadership, but a lot of rank and file Democrats have a lot of concerns. One of them, Steve Cohen, said today, “Not only are they not on the same page, but they’re not even in the same book.” Is the White House concerned about that?

Look, I’ve said before, we respect congressional members. They have their opinions. We respect their opinions, many of them that we had opportunities to deliver really, really good results on behalf of the American people.

(28:13)
But there is the whole Congressional Black Caucus. They support the president. The Congressional Hispanic Caucus support the President. Those are pretty impressive numbers. Senator Kuhn, Senator Fetterman support the president. There’s also another list here that shows support for this president. You’re going to have some congressional members who feel differently. That is up to them.

(28:39)
The president wants to continue. He’s going to have those conversations. He’s going to engage with congressional members. He’s going to continue to do that as he has. That’s not going to stop. Obviously, the campaign is doing their work. We’re continuing our engagement with congressional members as we do pretty much all the time on whatever issue we want to work with them on. So that’s not going to change.

(29:01)
You heard from AOC, the congresswoman from New York. She said, “The matter is closed, and I support him.” You heard from Maxwell Frost who was on CNN today, was very supportive on CNN. So you do have others out there just today, just today or yesterday, giving support to the president. You’re mentioning one person, but there are others as well.

Well, Karine, oh, on a separate topic. [inaudible 00:29:29] Cedric Richmond this morning, he said that, “The debate stage was words. The debate stage was performance. I would say look at actions and accomplishments.” President’s allies have made some version of that argument to not pay attention to what he said on stage, but what his accomplishments are. But when you’re the President of the United States, don’t words matter?

So when you’re the President of the United States, I think any leader, especially including a former president, your words

Words do matter. You’re 100% correct. The President has owned up to that night. He said it was a bad night. He said this. He said this many times. He’s even said he screwed up, so those are the President’s words. That’s all I can give you at this time.

(30:15)
We do believe that we should not just look at the 90 minutes. The President has done more than any other modern day president’s administration. Historic. Historic things have gotten done. When I was watching the Democratic Caucus, they talked about $35 insulin, capping that. When you think about seniors who were paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars, we were able to get that done because of a very important piece of legislation that we moved through, and only Democrats made that happen. That’s also because of the leadership of this president.

(30:54)
And that’s just one. That’s a bipartisan infrastructure legislation. There’s the Chips and Science Act, there’s the PACT Act for our veterans. I mean, there are things that he’s been able to do that elected officials, presidents before him have been trying to do and could not get done. Beating big pharma.

(31:13)
So, there is a long list of impressive things that this president has been able to get done, getting us out of the pandemic, that we do believe is important to note here as well as an accomplishment of this presidency.

Another question that I don’t think has been asked, correct me if it has, the White House and also the campaign has said that he had a cold that night. He then went to a watch party afterwards, which you had brought up. I was at that watch party. If he did have a cold, why then push him to another event where he spent some 45 minutes along the rope line?

And I would add to that it wasn’t just a watch party. We landed at 2:00 AM in the morning in North Carolina. He greeted hundreds of North Carolinians in North Carolina. He woke up the next day in North Carolina, gave a speech in front of thousands of North Carolinians.

[inaudible 00:32:02]

No, no, no. You gave me an opportunity and I’m just using that opportunity obviously to lay out what the president did in those two-and-a-half days. Look, one of the reasons that we shared that he had a cold is because during the debate in real time, everybody heard his hoarse voice and folks asked, and we were able to confirm right away that he had a cold, and that he was also tested negative for COVID. So we were able to share that in real time, so just also want to share that.

(32:34)
Look, he pushed forward. Many of us have colds and we still push forward. He’s the President of the United States. He understands how important it is to continue to get up every morning regardless of how you feel to get things done. That’s how this president is. I’m sure that’s how many presidents before him were as well when it comes to really not letting a cold get you down.

(32:57)
And I think that’s also why he pushed forward in the debate also on that night. So look, he pushed forward, tried to get things done, wanted to make sure that he had an opportunity to people who watched him do a debate, who were waiting for him. People at 2:00 in the morning in North Carolina who were waiting for him. He wanted to make sure that he engaged with Americans.

And finally, Karine, this morning house speaker Mike Johnson said, as he has before, that Democrats have been covering up the president’s mental acuity for years. How do you respond to that? And has the White House misled with America?

So I’ll say this: Americans out there, folks who are watching who are not normally in the day-to-day of what’s happening in this world, there is a full comprehensive medical report on the website, WhiteHouse.gov, I would encourage them to take a look. To take a look. Read that report, and they can also read for themselves what his specialist, a group of specialists coming out of the medical unit decided on, what they examined, what they saw, what they reported on. I think that matters as well. It is a group of them that come together when it comes to doing their physical. It is extensive physical, and so there is something there for them. It’s transparent, it’s out there, it’s for them to read. It’s for the American, not just for you, for the American people to take a look. And I think that’s important to note as well, and that’s what I would share with them.

(34:27)
Okay, and I’ll come to you, Ed, in a second.

Thanks, Karine. The President said yesterday in his letter, in his interview, that he talked to a wide range of voters. He overwhelmingly heard from people that they wanted him to stay in the race. Our polling shows that 76% of Democrats think he’s too old to run this year. How is he coming to this conclusion? Are you sure that a handful of events is giving him a representative view of swing state voters?

So look, I mean, look, you all have asked me about polling and his age for I feel like a year now. It’s come up many, many times. And I’m not going to speak to polls, not something I’m going to do from here. I’m just going to let the experts, the pundits and all of you-

[inaudible 00:35:07]

No, no, wait, I was about to answer your question. Just give me a second. Look, for the past three-and-a-half years, the President has been out there talking to voters. And if you think about, and what he was referring to when, when he went to Atlanta right after the watch party he saw, he literally did a rope line. Some of your colleagues were there, some of your colleagues spoke to some of the folks who were there and heard from them directly. He heard from folks at the rope line. I mean, these are every day, engaging with every day people. That’s what he did. Landed at 2:00 AM in the morning in North Carolina, hundreds of people there. He did a rope line, engaged with everyday people.

(35:52)
The next day, thousands of folks, thousands of people were at the North Carolina event and you heard chants, “Let’s go, Joe. We love you, Joe.” I mean that’s something that you feel. That’s something that you feel out there, and that’s what he feels out there. The next day he went to New York and he was able to speak to some supporters there and then went to New Jersey. So it is a continuation.

(36:19)
On Sunday, 600 people at the church. If you watch that service, you heard from that congregation. If you watched him in Harrisburg, you saw people, you saw him engaging with people. I mean, there’s nothing that takes away, all respect to the polling out there, but nothing takes away, I don’t think, from engaging with everyday Americans. I think that matters too. And I’m just laying out the last 10 or 12 days. That’s just the last 10 or 12 days.

One more. Over the weekend, the New York Times reported on a senior White House official who apparently had worked with the President in his vice presidency in the 2020 campaign, said he shouldn’t seek reelection. They thought he was not up to it and was showing signs of his age. Just does the White House know who this person is, or making the effort to find out? And are you comfortable having someone who apparently is traveling with him and working with him his way who thinks this?

I mean, look, that is the first time I’ve ever heard that was in that reporting. This is not the last administration where we try to find who is speaking or leaking. That’s not something that we do here. Everybody has their opinion, but that is the first time I’ve ever heard anything like that. I’ve never heard anyone speak in that way from here. Go ahead, Ed.

To follow up on something you were saying it gave about congressional outreach. Has the President spoken to, does he plan to speak with any of those that have publicly called for him to go?

Look, I don’t have a list of people that the President’s going to call. He’s going to engage with congressional members, that’s something that he’s going to do. I can say, I’m sure folks here in his office of Ledge Affairs has had regular communication with everyone. I just don’t have a list of who he’s going to speak to. But the President is always willing to speak to people who agree with him and don’t agree with him. You know that about him. If you’ve covered him, he’s very much that type of president. I just don’t want to get ahead of his decision on who he’s going to call and how that’s going to look.

One thing I don’t think we’ve gotten public clarification about yet. In the interview Friday night, he was asked, “Did you watch the debate?” And he said, “I don’t think I did. No.” Did he watch the full debate? Or what of it has he watched?

That’s a good question. I never followed up with him and I meant to. I have not asked him that question. I was there in the room when he was being asked that question, I just never followed up. That is something that we could follow up with him on. I have not. I’m sure he’s seen clips. I’m sure he’s seen clips. I haven’t asked him that full question.

[inaudible 00:38:57] One other thing that’s come up-

Yeah, it’s getting round the clock coverage, from all of you.

One other thing that’s come up in the last little bit, the Director of National Intelligence, Avril Haines, I don’t know if you’ve seen this, issued a statement a little while ago saying in part, “In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, which is a playbook, we’ve seen other actors use over the years. We’ve observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protestors.” She goes on later to urge Americans to remain vigilant as they engage online with accounts and actors they don’t personally know. But that’s a pretty big charge to make, that Iran may be trying to influence these protests in the streets of the United States.

So yes, I know what you’re speaking of, what the DNI warned about. Obviously for any specifics, I would have to refer you back to Director Haines in her statement. But broadly speaking here, just bear with me for a second, Iran is seeking to opportunistically take advantage of protest. So, I want to echo the DNI’s remarks today. Americans across the political spectrum acting in good faith have sought to express their own independent views on the conflict in Gaza. The freedom to express diverse views when done peacefully is essential to our democracy.

(40:17)
At the same time, the US government has a duty to warn Americans about foreign malign influence activities. This is important to help Americans guard against efforts by foreign powers to take advantage of, or co-opt their legitimate protest activities. We will continue to provide these warnings as they arise. And today I just want to convey, and a firm message from here to Iran and any other foreign actor that seeks to conduct these types of influence activities meddling in our politics and seeking to stroke division is unacceptable, and we will continue to expose attempts to undermine our democracy and our society, just as we are today. That is something that we will continue to do. The US government will continue to vigorously support and defend Americans in their exercise of their First Amendment rights to protest and express political views peacefully.

(41:10)
At the same time, we will continue to warn against, expose foreign efforts to meddle in our internal affairs and attempt to amplify conflict. The former is an essential part of the robust functioning democracy. The latter is a threat and it will not be tolerated.

And the President’s been read into all this?

He’s been briefed.

There’s no problem with it being shared publicly.

He’s been briefed. He’s been read in, he is aware. And we believe, as I just stated here, it is our duty. It is our duty here as a US government to share that.

(41:45)
Go ahead.

I have a question about the NATO Summit.

Sure.

There has been a lot of discussion about Ukraine, but also the southern front of NATO, countries like Italy and Spain. They want the summit to approve a new strategy to improve relations with countries in North Africa, the Middle East, and work together in challenges like migration or instability. So does the US support this? And is the President trying to or planning to meet with any leaders of the Southern plan?

So look, I think we announced some of the bilateral. We announced the one with the UK prime minister I just announced with the President Zelensky. We will do our best. The president is hosting the 75th NATO Summit. So he’s going to be pretty busy engaging with global leaders and obviously hosting the event. So, if we have anything more to share, I know my colleagues at the National Security Council will do our best to share that with you. We’re going to have some deliverables, we’re going to have some statements to make, declarations. I’m not going to get ahead of any of that. So, I’m just going to let this summit begin and let the president actually lead these in the next couple of days.

Does president support this strategy [inaudible 00:43:04]-

I am saying to you, I’m not just not going to get ahead of the summit. We’re going to have many conversations, many meetings here. I just want to be super mindful. You also asked me about any other bilateral engagements we’ve already announced too, and so just don’t want to get ahead of anything else. Things happen when the President is there. He gets pulled to the side, we do pull asides. We try to share them in real time as quickly as possible. I just don’t have anything to share outside of that.

Sticking with NATO, are there any details you can share on President Biden’s meeting with President Zelensky? Just any details on potentially what they might discuss. If Biden had said he would announce new air defense for Ukraine, will that come up at all?

We will definitely, there will be more air defense that we will be announcing. Don’t want to get ahead of the President. Look, you saw as I announced at the top, you saw the President do a bilat with President Zelensky in France and also at the G7. It is always obviously part of those conversations is to continue to show our unwavering support for Ukraine. The President has led in this effort globally. If you think about NATO, and the strength of NATO and how it has grown plus two, and how we have been able to have a stronger alliance than we’ve ever had before. That’s because of this president. And backing obviously behind Ukraine, that’s because of this president. So, our support continues to be unwavering and we will have more to read out from that bilat.

And as of the 75th anniversary, it’s here in DC obviously, but what does the success look like for Biden, given everything that is going on in the debate aftermath? What is he measuring?

So, I’ll say this, and I’ve said this many times before as it relates to foreign leaders. And look, I’ll say that the foreign leaders have had an opportunity to

To see what the President has been able to do in the last three and a half years. They’ve seen that certainly up close and personal the last three years, and they know that they are dealing with a president who has been effective and has been able to get things done. I just talked about NATO and the President’s leadership and how we’ve been able to strengthen NATO, make sure that we invigorated the NATO alliance and that we’ve been able to see in the last three and a half years. So, the President wants to continue to strengthen that partnership and strengthen those alliances. Obviously, it’s not going to just be NATO allies here, we’re going to see others. For example, Japan will be here on Thursdays and other heads of states. I believe there’s going to be 38 heads of states that’ll be here. And so, we want to continue to strengthen those relationships and that’s what the President wants to see. It is an important year, the 75th anniversary, and I think all of the work that the President has been able to do will be on full display.

Just one last question. If the President’s health were to decline rapidly next week, just kind of out of the blue, have you had any conversations with him or has he made any comments on if-

No, absolutely not.

[inaudible 00:46:10].

That’s a hypothetical. No. Go ahead.

Stay on the NATO summit. While the summit of course is being held in Washington, China is criticizing NATO as the relic of Cold War, is causing high security risk to the world and the region. What is the [inaudible 00:46:29] response to this?

So look, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine poses a threat to trans-Atlantic security. That’s what it does and it shows how critical the NATO alliance is and how important it is to continue to make sure that it is strong and that’s what the President has been able to do. I’m not surprised, we are not surprised that China doesn’t understand that though considering how they are actively enabling, right? They are themselves enabling Russia’s war in Ukraine, so it doesn’t surprise me or surprise us that that statement was made. But, look, NATO is an important alliance. It’s been around for 75 years, protecting US Americans, American citizens, but also the world. And so, we are going to continue to strengthen that alliance.

A second question. Indian Prime Minister Modi is visiting Russia. We all see the footage that he’s being friendly with Putin, also seeking deepened bilateral relationship. We see that. So that Ukrainian president Zelensky already expresses disappointment. Is the United States concerning that India as a US ally, might be actually adding Russia either intentionally or unintentionally.

I believe my NSC colleagues have spoken to this. I’ll just add that, and just reiterate that India is a strategic partner with whom we engage in full and frank dialogue including their relationship with Russia. And we’ve talked about this before. So we think it’s critical that all countries, including India, support efforts to realize an enduring and just peace when it comes to Ukraine. It is important for all our allies to realize this. And so, we also believe India’s longstanding relationship with Russia gives it the ability to urge the president, President Putin to end his brutal war, an unprovoked war in Ukraine. It is for President Putin to end. President Putin started the war and President Putin can end the war. Okay.

Thank you, Karine. A couple questions on unrelated subjects. First, there’s been some reporting by my colleagues in the British press that his majesty, King Charles would like to visit his grandchildren in California and could do so in conjunction with a state visit. Has there been any discussion or will there be any discussion between President Biden and Prime Minister Starmer about such a visit?

So, I don’t have anything to share. That is something obviously that the State Department and NSC would certainly engage on if that were to be the case. As you know, the new prime minister will be here for the NATO alliance. I just mentioned that there will be a buyout between President Biden and the new prime minister, so the President looks forward to that. An upcoming visit that involves the king, King Charles, I don’t have anything to share at this time.

Okay. Next question. The President yesterday morning, Joe said he wanted to make sure that the average voter out there still wants Joe Biden to be running for president, and you’ve rattled off a long list of campaigning engagements that he’s had over the last 10 or so days since the debate. Those engagements, whenever the President travels, whether it’s part of the campaign or official travel, there are advanced teams. People who get near him are screened either by the Secret Service or the campaign, or both. So, how are these groups of people he’s meeting with, supporters of his, they are supporters. They get to these official events, these official campaign events. They’re known to be supporters of the campaign. They self-select by coming to his events. How are groups of people that come to his events, make the time out of their day to do that and are vetted by the campaign and allowed into these events, representative of the average voter. And then I have one more.

So look, I’m going to be really careful you’re asking me a political question. You would have to talk to the campaign on how the process works. No, wait, give me a second, give me a second… On how that process works on who’s at these campaign events. So I just want to make that clear because I have to say that from here and make that clear. I would remind you that 14 million people, this is something that I can talk about, voted for the President in the primary. That’s 87% of the vote. That matters, those numbers matter. And so, that is kind of a reality, a data point that matters as well. And so, I’ll just leave it there, but I think it does matter. I hear the question that you’re asking. He’s still engaging with everyday people. He’s still hearing directly from them. They’re still sharing information, sharing how they feel, sharing how they see the future of his presidency, and I think that matters as well. As far as who’s in the room, how that comes together, who’s in front of him, you would have to speak to the campaign about that.

Last thing. You’ve described his engagements with Dr. O’Connor on a regular basis as check-ins. That’s what you described him having after the debate, a check-in versus an exam. Can you elaborate on what the difference is between a check-in and an exam at these check-ins? Does Dr. O’Connor or another staff member take the President’s vitals or anything like that?

So, I’ve talked about this on Friday, their verbal check-ins with the President, they check in. As the President’s exercising, that’s usually how this happens. And they’re not a medical exam. I said this already, I’ve cleared that up. It’s not a physical, it is a verbal check-in that the President does multiple times with his doctor. It’s normally as he’s working out.

Does anyone from the medical unit take the President’s vitals on a regular basis?

What I can tell you is he gets regular check-ins. He does regular check-ins a couple times a week with Dr. O’Connor, and that is for his doctor to decide on. That is not something that I can speak to from here. Go ahead, Karen.

Thank you. The President’s come out very aggressively in the past 24 hours. From that letter to Democrats, the call in to MSNBC, the phone call with Donors CBC last night, was that his decision personally to step up that outreach?

It has been. He’s ready. He’s on fire, he’s ready to go, and he wants to get out there and continue to show that he has more work to do, right? He has more important issues for the American people to get done. And so, he wants to get out there. He always has though. I mean, the last two, two and a half years, three years, three and a half years, he looks forward to getting out there speaking directly to the American people. And I know we say this and I know sometimes you guys don’t believe us, but he does want to engage with you all. He does want to talk more to the press. And so, now we’re certainly going to continue to create opportunities to do that. He’s done interviews 47 times in this year alone and we’re going to continue to create opportunities to do this. We’re going to get out there so he can engage with the American people more directly, so we’re going to continue to do that.

In terms of, especially in the last 24 hours, that type of outreach to ease concerns among Democrats about his campaign continuing, was there something specific that he heard or read that prompted this, would seem more like a flurry over the last 24 hours that didn’t happen last week. We really saw him doing more yesterday.

I get it. No, I get the question. Look, I wouldn’t say there’s anything specific. This is something that he wanted to do and if you think about it, he’s been on the road a lot since the debate. He was on the road on Friday, he was on the road on Sunday, and then right out of the debate, he did two and a half days of going into about four states. So he’s just been on the road busy, engaging with Americans. And, he did the ABC interview as you know, obviously. And so, he wants to do more, he wants to do more. There’s nothing specific but he understands. He understands what you all saw, right? He understand he had a bad debate. He understands what Americans saw. So he wants to go out there and continue to prove to all of you that he can continue to do the work.

Does he feel that outreach is working to ease those concerns after the bad debate?

I mean, look, I think this is kind of the questions that I got from other colleagues. He’s hearing directly from the American people, and I think that matters. I think him being out there and Americans seeing him directly, being able to touch him and ask him questions and see him face to face, I think that matters. And so, look, we’re going to continue to move forward and do what we have to do. All right, I think I can take one more. Go ahead.

Thank you so much. So we’ve seen the President being on the ground more, but we’ve also heard a slightly new tone from him. He said he was frustrated with the elites of his party. He dismissed [inaudible 00:56:14], he criticized media coverage saying that journalists get election results wrong. So, is this the kind of tone we should expect to hear from him going forward? And does he believe this is the kind of tone that the average voters, as he says, expect from him?

Look, I would say this. I think what we’ve seen the last 10 to 12 days is certainly fundamental to the Joe Biden story. He is someone that is certainly counted out many, many times in his career. People tend to knock him down and you hear him say, he gets back up. This is the story. This is the story of him standing up for himself, standing up for millions of Americans, and certainly millions of Americans who back his leadership, and like him, care, they care about working people, they care about getting things done. And it really truly is who he is at his core, to fight, to fight not just for himself, but what he believes in.

(57:13)
And he has seen this over and over again. People count him out. People say he’s not going to win. People say all of the negative things that they want to put at his feet and he proves them wrong over and over again. You think about 2020, folks said the same thing. He’s not going to win, he’s not going to make it. And he won. In 2022, we had a midterm election and going into that midterm election, it was supposed to be a red wave. There wasn’t a red wave. Happened in 2023. Now we’re in 2024, and he’s going to continue to fight. That is his commitment. That is quintessential Joe Biden story. That is fundamentally who he is, to continuing to fight. All right, thanks everybody.